


Does Buying Books and Coffee Count as Flirting?

by Shadowmightwrite17



Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Coffee Shop ending, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 09:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15191474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowmightwrite17/pseuds/Shadowmightwrite17
Summary: Bram spends entirely too much of his paycheck at Barnes and Noble, and it has nothing to do with the cute boy working at the cash register with 'Jacques' on his name tag.A bookstore/coffee shop AU





	Does Buying Books and Coffee Count as Flirting?

There was something about new books being opened for the first time that Bram loved. The resistance of the spine in hardback copies. The fresh, not faded and not bent cover of paperbacks. The smell of the pages as they turned for the first time, the edges trailing across his thumb softly. It made bookstores especially enjoyable.

Unfortunately he didn’t get paid till Friday, so he could only choose one book when normally he might get several. An absurd amount of his money went to books, but that was okay.

Today, on a Tuesday after three long college classes, Bram needed a boost in his mood, and what better solution that a new book and some coffee.

“Next in line.”

Bram looked up and grew still. At the register was a guy with light brown, almost blond messy hair, messy in that careless and unintentional way, and a soft smile. Bram walked slowly to the counter, holding his book with a grip so tight his knuckles paled. He could feel his stomach turning nervously.

“Did you find everything okay?” The guy was turning that growing smile on Bram and Bram couldn’t make himself speak, so he nodded quickly.

The cashier rung up the book and gave him his total. “Do you have a Barnes and Noble reward card?” He asked.

Bram opened his mouth to recite his number. He came here too often to not have a rewards card. But the words got caught in his throat and instead he shook his head, pressing his lips together in a thin line. The cashier looked at him softly and, rather than trying to up-sale a rewards card like Bram knew he was supposed to, just nodded and repeated the total.

Bram handed him cash. The book was put in a plastic bag with the receipt and handed to Bram, along with his change.

“Have a nice day.” His tone was soft, and sweet, and Bram felt his stomach squeezed and all he could do was force out a quiet:

“You too.”

He disappeared behind a bookcase and wandered into the café attached to the bookstore.

Why couldn’t he, for the life of him, talk to cute guys. Every time he tried he froze, and the words tumbled out of his mouth wrong, and he felt better off saying nothing. He was going to end up very alone if he couldn’t learn to talk to someone he liked.

He got a coffee, thought the better of lingering with a book, and left.

 

Friday he got paid, and yes he was still working on the last book he bought on Tuesday, so he didn’t go to the bookstore until Sunday after he finished it. He got three books this time. For once it wasn’t hard to choose. There were several close candidates he found on Tuesday that he almost bought, so for once he only spent fifteen minutes walking around the bookcases, rather than two hours.

He approached the line and panicked. The cute cashier with the messy brown hair was there again, and Bram wasn’t sure if he was happy or not.

“Next.”

The gentleman in front of him approached the cashier, and Bram almost wished someone would open another register in the next minute so he could talk to someone else. That didn’t happen though and, when the older gentleman left with his heavy bag of books, Bram found himself face to face with the cute guy.

“Welcome back,” He said to Bram, that friendly and open smile on his face.

Surely he couldn’t remember Bram from last Tuesday, it was just a regular line he said to everyone. That’s what Bram told himself.

“Did you find everything you were looking for?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Bram answered.

His eyes drifted down to the name tag pinned to his short. Jacques. Bram found himself smiling at the name.

And Jacques was smiling back.

Bram felt his stomach ease, but his heart was doing funny things in his chest instead.

“Do you want a rewards card?” Jacques asked. “You’d save just over six dollars.”

“I, um…” Bram trailed off. He didn’t want to explain that he had one and lied to Jacques about it because he was nervous last time, but he still didn’t need one. So he shook his head.

Jacques nodded and took the cash Bram offered.

“Have a nice day, and enjoy your books.”

And Jacques gave Bram that soft smile, and Bram noticed the particular color of grey Jacques’ eyes were. It was a deep grey along the edges of his irises, with a pale but bright grey towards the center. Like the satellite pictures of the moon that so clearly mapped out all its craters and cracks and details. Bright in the middle, but darker grey towards the edges. Moon-grey.

And Bram caught himself staring, so he murmured a soft _you too_ and walked off.

He risked a glance back and noticed Jacques glancing back too, and Jacques held his gaze for maybe a second longer than was totally appropriate, and Bram couldn’t help but smile softly back.

This time he lingered in the café. He drank his coffee slowly and read the first two chapters of a book before heading back to his college and his dorm.

 

Bram told himself he was there because he didn’t like the books he got last time, and needed more. That was absolutely why he was going back to Barnes and Noble on a Tuesday, a week and a half before he got paid. It had nothing to do with the boy at the counter on Tuesday of last week, or on Sunday two days ago. Nothing at all.

He picked out a classic book that was on sale. It was a classic, he was expanding his horizons. It had nothing to do with the fact that he’d used up his book budget already and had no business being there again spending more money on books when he had plenty to read still.

As he walked into the line, he couldn’t help but be relieved that Jacques was running the cash register again. Bram watched that sweet, friendly smile on Jacques face as he talked to another customer and laughed. Bram felt something sinking in his chest as the pretty red-haired girl who made Jacques smile like that disappeared. Of course Jacques was straight. Bram felt nauseated.

Then he was next and he walked slowly, nervously towards Jacques.

“Welcome back.” That friendly smile was turned on Bram, and would Bram be hallucinating or losing his mind if he thought that smile somehow looked wider and happier when it was directed towards him.

“Yeah,” Bram returned clumsily.

“Oh, Oliver Twist, that brings back memories.” Jacques mumbled to himself. That smile seemed impossibly big now. “I did a play of that in my junior year of high school. I didn’t have a speaking part, I’m not naturally talented in acting, but I loved it.”

Bram smiled, nodded as he tried to picture Jacques on stage, in the background. Something in Bram softened up and he felt mushy.

“You really like reading.” Jacques added, that wide smile turned towards Bram like it was just for him.

“Yeah, I do.” Bram whispered shyly.

“Five books in a week, it’s impressive.” Jacques added, and his cheeks looked soft and pink. Was Bram imagining a blush too?

“I just, um, had a lot of free time.” He mumbled shyly. Then he stopped, and looked up at Jacques. “You remembered me?”

“You, um, you bought my favorite book last Tuesday, and I have a good memory for faces, and you showed up the only days I’ve worked the last week. I work Sundays and Tuesdays mostly, because of my school schedule.” Jacques explained, looking so adorably shy. “So, yeah, I remember you.”

Bram felt his cheeks heat, and he felt so lucky that his skin was too dark to really blush noticeably.

“Your favorite book is _Lost in the Dark_?” Bram whispered.

 _Lost in the Dark_ was about a boy who was blind, and who ended up falling in love with his best friend, Lukas. Bram hadn’t known a plot twist like that was going to happen, and when he read it he cried, cried because the book made him feel so many things he’d never been so lucky to know. It was, without a doubt, his new favorite book.

“It’s just, it makes you feel so many emotions, and it,” Jacques trailed off, this impossibly wide smile. “I just love that book so much.”

“Me too,” Bram whispered. He felt airy and weightless right now, and it felt so easy talking to Jacques.

Jacques’ eyes trailed away from Bram and he looked disappointed. Behind Bram were a couple of middle aged woman with books and magazines and gifts.

“Anyway the total is $9.72.” Jacques told him.

Bram nodded, passed a ten dollar bill over.

“Oh, and I have my rewards card now.” Bram spoke up, feeling strangely brave.

Jacques eyes widened, and he smiled widely. “Okay.”

Bram gave him his number and watched as Jacques punched it in. The new total was just under eight dollars now.

“Have a good day, and see you soon.” Jacques told him quietly, a soft and surprisingly shy smile there.

“You too,” Bram returned, and this time he didn’t feel so shy.

 

Bram couldn’t go back for another week and a half. Not because he didn’t want to, because God did he wanted to, but because he wouldn’t be able to eat if he went back two more times before he got paid.

So he went to class, made coffee and cleaned tables at Starbucks, and counted down the days until he was paid. And all the while he kept thinking about Jacques’ cute smile and cute messy hair and cute eyes. And their favorite book. He’d actually reread that instead of reading the other four books he bought.

He was in the last hour of his Thursday shift when he met those moon-grey eyes again.

“Hey,” Bram murmured, surprised.

Jacques smiled sheepishly. “Hey,” He returned.

“I, um, what can I get you?” Bram asked.

“Grande cold brew, little bit of cream,” He answered.

“It’s freezing out,” Bram pointed out, somewhere between surprised and worried. Early November in New York was downright freezing.

Jacques shrugged with an almost ‘devil may care’ casualness. “Still sounds good.”

Bram nodded, observed the heavy backpack slung carelessly over Jacques’ shoulder. “Need a caffeine fix before class?” He asked as he scrawled the order on the cup.

“No, I,” Jacques trailed off, blushing. “I came here to study actually. I got a big sociology exam next week.”

“Oh, I hope you do well.” Bram told him.

With careful scrawl, different from his normally neat and straight handwriting, he wrote _Jacques_ across the side of the cup and put it in the queue for Jamie, the barista on duty, to make.

Jacques smiled that cute smile, murmured thanks, and handed Bram his Starbucks card to ring up the order with. With endearing hesitancy, Jacques walked away and went to wait for his drink. Bram wondered to himself if Jacques would still be here when his shift ended, and if Jacques would mind Bram sitting down at his table and talking about favorite books.

“Jacques, cold brew with cream.”

Jacques looked up, eyes wide in surprise, and turned his gaze to Bram. Bram felt breathless at the happy smile that spread across Jacques’ face, looking almost giddy as he picked up his iced coffee. Bram felt his cheeks grow warm, his heart grow soft, and his stomach fill with butterflies.

Jacques sat down at a table by the window, and it could have been Bram’s imagination but he swore Jacques was having an impossible time concentrating on his school work because his eyes kept drifting to Bram and lingering for maybe a second too long, even when Bram caught him.

Maybe it was Bram’s imagination, or maybe Jacques liked Bram back, and if that was the case…

Bram couldn’t wait for the minutes to tick down until his shift was over and he could talk to Jacques.

And then Jacques beat him too it. He got in line again, an empty cold brew left abandoned by his books and laptop.

“Same order?” Bram asked as Jacques smiled back at him from across the counter.

Jacques nodded. “Yes, but this time with Simon on the cup instead of Jacques.” He answered.

Bram stopped smiling and his stomach was sinking. “Oh,” He whispered. Jacques was expecting someone, a boy named Simon.

“When I first started working at Barnes and Noble, I made a joke about Jacques a dit, which is French for Simon Says, and because Simon is my real name and my manager thinks he’s ever so funny, I ended up with Jacques being written on my nametag.” He explained. Simon, explained. “I honestly… I was surprised that you wrote Jacques, it was a very nice surprise. Nobody really pays attention to nametags most of the time.”

His moon-grey eyes drifted to Bram with a soft, kind smile.

“Simon, grande cold brew with a little cream,” Bram spoke, picking up a cup to write the order down.

“Maybe there should be a second coffee, but this time the name on it is Bram.” Simon suggested.

Bram grew still, statue-still, and he looked up at Simon with wide eyes. His cheeks turned hot and he stammered. “R-really?”

“Bram, would you like to get a coffee with me?” Simon asked.

Bram nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes of course.” He stumbled over his words, and his cheeks felt hotter at his over-enthusiasm.

Simon just smiled, smiled so widely his cheeks had to hurt, and he nodded. “Good.”

Bram grabbed a paper cup, wrote his name on it and prepared a cup of earl grey tea. He dropped an ice cube in it to make it the right temperature, pushed a lid on top, and passed it off to Simon. Simon, who was still wearing that big smile with his moon-grey eyes so soft and full of hope. He pulled out his Starbucks card to pay, but Bram shook his head.

“On the house,” He whispered.

Ten minutes later, when Bram’s shift ended, he found himself drifting restlessly towards Simon’s table. The books and laptop had been cleared off, and Bram’s tea sat in front of his chair.

“Hey,” Bram greeted.

“Hey,” Simon returned, looking so strangely shy.

“Can I join you?” He asked.

That shy smile was too impossibly huge and Simon nodded eagerly. “Please do.”

Bram sat down, and they found themselves talking about college, other favorite books, and their shared origin of Georgia, Bram from Savannah and Simon from Shady Creek, outside of Atlanta. They talked for hours about family, and coming out. It turned out Simon had a terrible time coming out, being blackmailed by a classmate, but Simon had gotten through it with his friends and family. Bram didn’t know if he could have survived that. They talked about the joys of having sisters. Bram had become a big brother to Sarah Greenfeld a year and a half ago, and he still wasn’t used to the novelty of being a big brother at eighteen. They talked about friends from high school, and the trouble of starting college and how different it felt from high school. Talked about their jobs and if secret menus actually existed at Starbucks, and they don’t, and if Barnes and Noble secretly had a thing against Starbucks because Barnes and Noble didn’t let customers tip employees or use their Starbucks card, and Simon claimed he couldn’t comment on that because of a non-disclosure form he filled out. The banter was light and easy, and as Starbucks started getting ready to close, Simon said:

“I had a lot of fun talking to you. I really like you.” His moon-grey eyes were staring at Bram’s soft brown eyes, and Bram never wanted to look away. “How about we go on a real date. Dinner, movie, coffee at a coffee shop that isn’t Starbucks.”

“I’d really like that,” Bram whispered.

“Good,” Simon whispered, brushing his fingers across Bram’s hand, and with the soft hesitancy of two people who were just figuring each other out but wanted to never stop learning more, they folded their hands together, and just smiled, together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! So most of my writing time is going to developing my Blind Simon AU, and my writing time is limited because I'm also a full time student this summer. I've got an outline and a few chapters done, but I want to have the whole project complete and edited before I publish.
> 
> In the meantime, I love comments (they're writer food, it keeps us alive) and small prompts would be great. They help when I'm getting stuck on big projects. I hope you loved this little AU twist on Coffee Shop AUs.


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